A Graduation Feel-Good Story
June 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under tennis, the latest
For high school student Stephanie Lutz to graduate as a 4-year varsity player in tennis and basketball, and a 3-year varsity player in volleyball is a big achievement. Did I mention she made it to the state tournament in tennis each year? What if I told you she’s one of her class of 592 students’ valedictorians with a perfect 4.0 GPA? Oh, by the way, she’s also the student body president.
That’s an impressive list of accomplishments for any student.
What makes this Portland, Oregon resident’s achievements even more inspiring is the circumstances she overcame. You could say that Stephanie faced more challenges than the typical student at David Douglass High School.
Per Lindsay Schnell’s article in The Oregonian, her dad Terry Lutz couldn’t receive a ticket to her graduation because he
“… is serving a 40-year prison sentence in Ontario and has not seen his daughter in 12 years. She should have given one to her brother, T.J., but he has been dead for 10 years, having killed himself when Stephanie was 8.
It’s surprising that Valerie Lutz, Stephanie’s mom, is even able to attend. In Stephanie’s freshman year, her mom was taken away in handcuffs, arrested for selling and using drugs.
“I was walking home from my bus stop when I saw blue and red flashing lights from my house,” Stephanie wrote this school year in a scholarship essay. “Knowing that it was a police car, I raced to see what was going on. As I reached my driveway I saw an officer direct my ragged mother into his car. I began to sob and yell in hysteria. A woman that I had never seen before then approached me. She informed me that she was from DHS and that I would need to pack my belongings and go with her. My worse fear had finally become a reality. … I was put into foster care.”
Eventually, Stephanie settled in at her aunt’s house and later moved in at a friend’s house. But, some of the early years were tough. At a very young age, she was forced to fend for herself without the encouragement of a parent or adult in her life. When she grew fearful of drug dealers who were visiting her house, Stephanie turned to sports and other after-school activities to avoid them. As with her studies, she excelled in these pursuits.
Lutz recently received a $10,000 scholarship from Stand for Children, a national organization dedicated to ensuring excellent public education for everyone. Lutz will use the scholarship and a financial aid package that will cover her educational costs to attend Tufts University in Boston where she hopes her studies will lead to her becoming a veterinarian.
Stephanie’s inspirational story shows that it’s possible to overcome the most difficult of circumstances and excel.
Beating the Odds video:
Stephanie Lutz: From chaos, with honors — The Oregonian
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She was badly engaged in the drugs,When she grew fearful of drug dealers who were visiting her house, Stephanie turned to sports and other after-school activities to avoid them. As with her studies, she excelled in these pursuits.